New Year's Eve in the Bavarian Alps

What to expect

Escape to the Tegernsee mountains for an active and memorable New Year at the cosy Bodenschneidhaus. No previous snowshoeing experience is needed – we’ll learn the basics together, including essential avalanche awareness and rescue skills, before heading out to explore the winter mountains. Alongside our days outdoors, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the hut and celebrate New Year’s Eve together with a festive dinner – surrounded by mountains and far from the usual fireworks and crowds.

Physical requirements

No previous snowshoeing experience is required for this weekend. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, and guidance on basic technique and use of the equipment is at the core of this weekend.

However, you need a good general level of fitness and stamina. Walking on snow—particularly in fresh or deep snow and away from prepared paths—is considerably more demanding than ordinary hiking. Routes may include uneven terrain, sustained ascents and descents, and sections where breaking trail requires additional effort.

You should be comfortable:

• walking for several hours at a steady pace;
• hiking on uneven and moderately steep terrain;
• tackling sustained uphill and downhill sections;
• walking off-piste through snow, which may at times be deep or soft;
• carrying your weekend backpack to the hut and a small daypack every day;
• being outdoors for several hours in cold and potentially changeable winter conditions.

Please note that it is your responsibility to make sure that you are fit enough and able to participate in this trip. If you have never hiked with me before or are unsure whether you meet the physical and technical requirements or whether you have the right equipment, I’d be very happy to speak over the phone with you about the trip in advance. Please keep in mind that, no matter how the routes are rated, multi-day hikes in the Alps may feel difficult if you have not hiked in the Alps before.

Service included

• Organised trip by a registered travel company
• Basic Avalanche Awareness & Rescue Training
• Guided snowshoe tours by a fully qualified UIMLA & VDBS International Mountain Leader
• 3x hut nights in twin rooms with shared fashing facilities including half-board
• Special New Year's Eve Menu (see below)
• Information package about the trip including a packing list 

Extra costs on tour

• Snowshoe and Avalanche Equipment (~ € 125 in total, rentable in Munich)
• Public transport to the start and from the end of the trek (Deutschlandticket valid)
• Lunch, snacks and beverages during the trip

Optional

• Travel to Munich
• Hotel in Munich before and after the tour

Accommodation

Bodenschneidhaus is a traditional and welcoming mountain hut in the Tegernsee mountains, surrounded by beautiful Alpine scenery. With its relaxed and sociable atmosphere, it provides a cosy place to come together after a day outdoors. The dining room with its fireplace is a particularly inviting place to warm up, relax and spend the evening together. Board games are available at the hut, making it a lovely setting for an easy-going winter evening in the mountains. For our overnight stay, accommodation is in twin rooms with shared washing facilities. As is typical for a mountain hut, facilities are simple and bathrooms and washing facilities are shared.

Special New Year’s Dinner 
For our stay over New Year’s Eve, the evening on 31 December will begin at around 18:00 with a welcome drink, followed by a special New Year’s Eve dinner. The planned menu includes several courses with starters, soup and a festive main course, as well as a vegetarian option and a selection of desserts. Around midnight, there will be a late-night cheese platter accompanied by sparkling wine to welcome the New Year. A special bonus: Bodenschneidhaus is located within a wildlife protection zone, where fireworks are strictly prohibited. This means we can welcome the New Year away from firecrackers and fireworks, surrounded by the peaceful winter mountains – a wonderfully tranquil way to start the year The following morning, we will start the New Year with the hut’s extensive breakfast buffet. Vegetarian guests are catered for, but as with most mountain huts, options for special dietary requirements may be more limited than in a hotel or restaurant. If you have any allergies, intolerances or other dietary requirements, please let me know in advance so that these can be discussed with the hut. 

Travel

Start: Munich main station on Thursday at 10 am.
End: Munich main station on Sunday by 1 pm the latest.

We can meet at Munich main station and travel together to the start of the hike on Thursday and back to Munich on Sunday. If you are not from Munich, it is possible and recommended to travel to Munich via train from anywhere in Europe. I can recommend a hotel for you the night before and after the trip, so you stay together with other hikers joining the trip. Munich also has an international airport, which is a 40-minute train ride from the main station. If you are deciding to travel by train, I am happy to assist with booking tickets. Please get in touch! 

Programme

Thursday – Bodenschneidhaus (1356 m)
9 km, ↑ 650 m, 3.5 hrs walking time (excluding breaks)
We start the trip with a relaxed journey by public transport from Munich towards Tegernsee. From there, we make our way up the wide forest road through the beautiful winter landscape up to Bodenschneidhaus, arriving in the late afternoon. Once at the hut, there will be plenty of time to settle in and explore the snowy surroundings before we come together in the cosy hut to enjoy the evening and begin our New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Friday
approx. 3 km, ↑↓ 200 m, 2 hrs walking time (excluding breaks)
After breakfast, we start with an introduction to the basics of avalanche awareness. We look at the essential safety equipment – avalanche transceiver, probe and shovel – and learn how to use it correctly. We then put this into practice by working through a realistic avalanche scenario together, practising avalanche search and companion rescue step by step – from what to do in an emergency to locating and digging out a buried person. After lunch, we head out for an easy snowshoe tour, giving us plenty of opportunity to get comfortable with snowshoeing technique, moving through winter terrain and putting what we have learned into practice.

Saturday
approx. 6 km, ↑↓ 400 m, 4 hrs walking time (excluding breaks)
In the morning, we briefly refresh the key points of avalanche awareness and the use of our safety equipment. We then set off on our full-day snowshoe tour. There are plenty of beautiful routes around Bodenschneidhaus, with a variety of possible summits and mountain huts to choose from. We will decide on the most suitable route on the day, based on the current weather and snow conditions.

Sunday – Tegernsee (725 m)
9 km, ↓ 650 m, 3.5 hrs walking time (excluding breaks)
We start the day at a relaxed pace and enjoy our last breakfast. Afterwards, we hike down again the wide forest road to Tegernsee and take public transport back to Munich.

Please note that our hiking days and routes may differ from the programme described, depending on weather and snow conditions, trail conditions and the fitness and ability of the group. If there isn’t enough snow for snowshoeing, the beautiful surroundings offer fantastic winter hiking instead, so we can still make the most of our days in the mountains. 

Payment Information

A deposit of €150 is required within seven days of booking, with the remaining balance due 30 days before the start date. Payment in instalments is possible; please contact me directly at info(at)shantitreks.com. Please note that the cancellation policy applies as outlined in the T&Cs.